Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat' Gets U.S. Court Rebuke

[brooklynite]

Last edited Fri Jul 28, 2017, 02:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Bloomberg

Aviation regulators were ordered by a federal appeals court on Friday to consider setting minimum standards for the space airlines give passengers as carriers have steadily shrunk the width of seats and the distance between rows.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., found in favor of Flyers Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group, which had argued that steadily shrinking legroom and seat size created a safety hazard and the Federal Aviation Administration should impose new restrictions.

“This is the Case of the Incredible Shrinking Airline Seat,” Judge Patricia Ann Millett wrote on behalf of the three-judge panel. “As many have no doubt noticed, aircraft seats and the spacing between them have been getting smaller and smaller, while American passengers
have been growing in size.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-28/u-s-court-rebukes-faa-over-incredible-shrinking-airline-seat

[flibbitygiblets]

1. There should also be a law against "manspreading" on planes

I've completely had it with that crap. If your junk is really so huge that your legs need to be touching mine, buy another seat.

Oops, did I spill hot coffee on you?

[LittleGirl]

2. I've flown twice this summer

and I fear I will never fly again unless it's to go to a family funeral.

It's impossible to stretch out especially when the person in front of you reclines their seat. Stop having seats recline!

It's impossible to get out of your window seat unless the person next to you or on the aisle gets up and leaves the row. This is a safety issue.

It's impossible to be comfortable when they blow the a/c down on you so hard and fast that you are shivering within 20 minutes. I know that they have had some trouble lately with extremely hot conditions in aircraft stuck on the runways, but I experienced the opposite. I was a damn Popsicle after an hour long flight. I had shoes, socks, jeans, t-shirt and a hoodie jacket on zipped all of the way up. I even asked for a blanket but they don't carry them on flights anymore. Ugh.

Don't even get me started about paying extra for a seat that has more leg room and being told to move to another row (same class seat) because that's what they decided to do to me. And charging 8 bucks for a cocktail drink after making me move. I don't think so.

and, and, and...I could tell you stories.

[forgotmylogin]

7. I have a suggestion!

Any seat on a passenger plane should be no more than one seat from an aisle, meaning you can't have three seats next to a wall/window. There can be three seats together if there is a central row, but any more needs an extra aisle.

|UU UU| or |UU UUU UU| or |UU UUU UU UU|

If they want more than three seats together, they must include an extra foot of space front to back, or stagger alternate rows so no one ever has to cross more than one person to the aisle:

|UU_UUUU_UU|
|UU__UU__UU|
|UU_UUUU_UU|
|UU__UU__UU|

Even if they charged a premium for an "awesome legroom" seat, there are people I'm sure who'd pay it.

[LittleGirl]

8. that's a great suggestion!

I would pay more. I would have upgraded to business class but they were freaking sold out! ugh.

[MADem]

13. That's too much wasted space, from their POV. Space should be filled by PAX, is their mantra.

What they could do is find a way to lighten the load. They could do that by stripping the seats down. I'd rather sit on a plastic or canvas seat with more ass and leg room than a puffy, fluffy thing that leaves me no room to adjust/stretch out!

They probably won't go that far, but they should research lighter plastic/ceramic materials to reduce aircraft weight. The lighter the plane, the less fuel they burn. That pleases them...

[Phentex]

15. I had a seat that was IN the aisle!

I have flown plenty of times and have never seen anything like it. We were three across with other family member in the center and window seat. My seat on the end extended into the aisle but it was the only one like it. You know those little lines and lights that run along either side of the aisle? They went between my feet! I took pictures. There wasn't a seat behind me or in front of me, only regular seats on either side of the aisle. And it was a small aisle. So EVERY SINGLE TIME anyone walked past me or the damn drink cart rolled past, they hit my arm rest. The airline employees apologized every time, but it was constant throughout the flight. And it just felt weird to be seated out in the open like that.

[pansypoo53219]

3. i am not a big gal, i do have pretty wide shoulders. god knows how cramped guys must be.

last plane trip i felt like a sardine in a can.

[Yavin4]

4. Taking the bus has surpassed flying as a more pleasurable experience.

Plenty of room. Comfortable. Affordable, and Prompt. The only problem is the shitty cracks in the roads because of our shitty infrastructure.

[DemoTex]

5. I'm a retired airline captain, and I do not fly anymore.

I flew once, in the 16 years since retiring, when my dad was dying. And that flight from Oregon to Georgia and back was pure hell.

I drive. I have driven from South Carolina to Oregon or Arizona every year for the last nine years. Can't see flying getting any better, either.

I used to cross the Grand Canyon at 35,000 feet. Now I drive up to the edge, at Toroweap, on the North Rim. I am so glad I don't fly anymore!

[MADem]

14. Another great image from your archives...! nt

[question everything]

6. I have often wondered on how the FAA, I think, tested the safety of quickly evacuating

a plan full of people.

I think that this has to be accomplished during a given time. Last I've heard, the "passengers" were fit people wearing light clothing.

Try do it with most overweight passengers these days, the elderly who cannot move fast, the mother with crying toddlers..

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

9. I would love to see an evacuation test performed with the people on a random ATL-LAS flight

Airbus got the FAA and EASA to go along with a computer simulation of the new high-density A320 configuration.

[El Mimbreno]

10. It's also a health issue

Being unable to move your legs for hours on end is extremely unhealthy, especially for seniors. And there is no sense to the seat spacing. On a trip last year, the "regional jet" had more legroom than the overseas flights on 757 & 767.

[Grammy23]

11. And don't even get me started on seatbelt length. With Americans having greater girth,

you'd think the belts would be made just a scosh longer so passengers don't have to ask for an extension for their belt. It is humiliating to tug at the belt to get it around you and fastened only to realize it is too short. And it adds just one more task for the flight attendant when she/he is already scrambling getting people on board and settled in. If the belts were longer, problem solved. But why make something easier for the passenger and the flight crew??

It seems like the airline industry has abandoned any pretense at making sure passengers are comfortable. If you can afford business or first class you won't feel like a sardine. But any other seat on the plane might as well be called steerage. Heave-ho, me hearties!

[delisen]

12. Airlines engage in Corporate Sadism.

Corporation really are people! they have psychological profiles.

Some can benefit from therapy.